ChiniMandi, Mumbai: Friday 17th April 2020
Domestic Market: Trades in larger quantities have not been taking place smoothly ever since the nationwide lockdown has been announced.
Maharashtra: S/30 Sugar rates are Rs.3050 to Rs.3140/Qntl.
South Karnataka: S/30 rates are Rs.3300 to 3350 whereas M/30 rates are Rs.3325 to 3400/Qntl.
Uttar Pradesh: The rates for M/30 rates are Rs.3180 to Rs.3260/Qntl.
Gujarat: The rates for New S/30 are Rs.3201 whereas M/30 are at 3280/Qntl.
Tamil Nadu: S/30 Sugar rates are Rs.3400 to Rs.3500 whereas M/30 rates are Rs.3450 to 3575.
Kolkata: The rates for S/30 are Rs.3560 to Rs.3570 whereas M/30 rates are at Rs.3600/Qntl.
*All the domestic rates except Kolkata are excluding GST
International: According to reports,Sugar prices on Thursday pushed higher with London sugar at a 2-1/2 week high on news of stronger demand for sugar deliveries. A total of 240,000 MT of London sugar was delivered against the May London sugar futures contract that expired on Wednesday, the highest monthly delivery figure in 7 years and a sign of strong demand for physical sugar.
Another bullish factor for sugar is concern about supply disruptions in India. The ISMA reported Thursday that sugar production in India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer, dropped sharply by -21% y/y to 24.78 MMT during Oct-Apr 15. The CEO of the Indian Sugar Exim Corp said on Mar 27 that India will miss its sugar export target this year of 5 MMT since the coronavirus pandemic is causing a shortage of labor at ports and sugar mills. Several ports and terminals in India have declared force majeure due to shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic. The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) Mar 25 said that India’s cane crushing may be affected during the 3-week long lockdown imposed by the Indian government to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Sugar prices continue to be undercut by general weakness in crude oil prices, which fell to a new 18-year low on Wednesday. Weaker crude oil prices undercut ethanol prices and may prompt Brazil’s sugar mills to divert more cane crushing toward sugar production rather than ethanol production.
Another negative for sugar is the persistent weakness in the Brazilian real against the dollar. The real on Thursday fell -0.32% against the dollar and is just above the record low of 5.3528 reals/USD from April 3. A weaker real is bearish for sugar since it encourages export selling by Brazil’s sugar producers.
London White Sugar front month contract is trading at $337.40/tn whereas US Sugar front month contract is trading at 10.20/lb at the time of writing this update.
Currency, Commodity & Indian Indices:
The rupee traded against the US dollar at 76.483 whereas USD traded with BRL at 5.2408, Crude futures traded at Rs.1417, Crude WTI traded at $17.84. Indices ended in the green, sensex closed 986.11 points higher 31,588.72. Similarly, Nifty ended 273.95 points higher at 9266.75.
